Babies and booze hic

By BROWN CAT BABY

01 March 2012

I always think it is important to make a good impression. Some people don’t even think it’s relevant to dress nicely for a house party. For a party hosted by two close friends, Colin and Gillian, I would of course make the effort.

It was a cold Saturday night, walking with bags of booze and my shoes clacking on the pavement to this lovely semi-detached place in Carshalton. As I entered the driveway, I looked through the front window. Then my jaw dropped to the ground. There were four couples and fours babies under the age of one. Before I pressed the doorbell I took a deep breath and said to myself this is going to be interesting.

Gillian is 29, French and absolutely lovely. She has a motherly kind of love for her friends. But she has another side completely. She is also a total party animal. Answering the door, this was not the party animal I had met two years ago. This was a young mother completely in love with her newborn baby boy . Greeting me, she showered me with kisses and showed me into the living room to meet everybody. I then headed straight for the kitchen to pour a glass of wine. Once I’d caught my breath, I made an attempt to re-enter the ‘party’. Rubber toys, teddies and story books everywhere, I was directed to the decadent fireplace with Blossom Hill in hand. When I got there, I couldn’t believe that there was a tray with three flavours of jelly shots waiting. Embarrassed, I stood with my back to the others ’drinking’ my shot. Uncomfortable drinking in front of the children, Josh (my colleague’s husband) watched in amazement and curiosity as I tried to ‘tongue’ the jelly out rather than knock it back. I finally managed to get the jelly out. With my fingers.

Three shots later I’m sitting in front of couples and babies talking politics, properties and bitching. While this fascinating group discussion was taking place, I began to think. Can you really have it all?

Of course there are sacrifices, but do you ultimately lose yourself? I realise there are great measures of compromise. Not that it’s a selfish act to drink in front of your child. But would you have a shot in front of them? Well, not me and not at this party.